Gareth Jones relies on Metric Halo interfaces

Jones, who has worked with such artists as Depeche Mode, Wire, Erasure and Interpol, has fitted his studio with a pair of Metric Halo FireWire interfaces, which provide him with 16 studio-grade mic preamps, 16 channels of AD and DA, DSP processing and 80-bit master summing.

Having begun with only one Metric Halo ULN-8 interface, Jones soon added a second LIO-8 with eight optional mic preamps. “With eight preamps, my LIO-8 is no different than a ULN-8, and a bit cheaper,” he laughed. “I quickly discovered that the Metric Halo technology fits beautifully with my workflow. It sounds fantastic. The DSP capabilities and MIO Console’s routing are useful in a hundred different ways – and it travels very conveniently.

Depending on the project, Jones also uses his Thermionic Culture Fat Bustard summing amp and is currently mixing on a vintage Neve consoleat SNAP! Studios in London. Jones commented on the importance of the Metric Halo interfaces to his recording process.

“The Metric Halo converters are famously super transparent and thus perfect for sending things out of the computer and for bringing them back in,” Jones said. “At SNAP! I record the output of the console (the mixes are generated at 48k in Pro Tools/Prism interfaces) and all my stems at 96k on my Metric Halos. Wonderful. “In addition, I frequently use the Metric Halo saturation models even when I’m doing things outside of the box. I have a lot of flexibility!”